The SY77 made it possible to create exciting sounds using a hybrid-like combination of sampling and FM, and also featured many other groundbreaking functions-for example, the PCM waves of the AWM2 engine could even be used as operator waves in the AFM tone generator. These two new approaches to tone generation were christened Advanced Wave Memory 2 (AWM2) synthesis and Advanced Frequency Modulation (AFM) synthesis, respectively. The SY77 was equipped with both an AWM tone generator and an FM tone generator, both of which could be used together with the digital filter to sculpt sound for remarkable levels of expression. Many did not feature resonance at all, while others attempted to simulate this unique filter behavior in an artificial manner.Īt that time, Yamaha had actually developed a digital filter capable of reproducing the behavior of an analog one, a feature that made its long awaited debut in our SY77 digital synthesizer in 1989. Other instrument manufacturers had already released synthesizers featuring digital filters, but the majority fell short of the mark. Developers found it especially difficult to give character to "resonance," a highly distinctive feature of the analog synth. Although the theoretical mathematical formulae that described how these devices operated were certainly well understood at the time, when replicated inside a digital circuit their behavior was much less smooth than that of the analog filter. One particularly difficult task was the development of digital filters that could behave in the same way as those featured in analog synthesizers. Many challenges still needed to be overcome before the Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) tone generator could also function effectively as a synth engine that allowed sounds to be designed in a creative fashion, or as part of a highly expressive instrument for live performance. That said, their main mode of use was as a sampler-that is, a device that replays recorded instrument sounds as–is-and they were not used in synthesizers to actually create sound. Yet this type of tone generator was not limited to drum sounds: it could also replay samples recorded from pianos, guitars, and other instruments with longer decay times, as well as the sustained sounds of organs and the like. Here at Yamaha, we call this type of engine the Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) tone generator. For this reason, various different instrument manufacturers began to use sampling-based tone generation-also known as Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)-in drum machines and other similar products during the eighties. As such, sampling technology can be applied to easily recreate the sounds of these and other acoustic instruments. Drums, percussion, effect noises, and other similar sounds are relatively short, making them ideal for sampling furthermore, very little adjustment of pitch or timbre is required when these recordings are played back.
One part of this approach involved the development of technologies that would allow digital recordings of the actual sounds of acoustic instruments-commonly referred to as "samples"-to be used as the tone generator. Spurred on by development of the FM tone generator, Yamaha transitioned its synthesizers to digital technologies during the 1980s, and thanks also to advances in integrated circuits, we released products with a diverse array of new functions.
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